one girl, one cat, one big adventure.

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If you know me, you know that I have a little tortoiseshell shadow called Jellyfish. I got her from the RSPCA in Brisbane when she was a wee runt of a kitten, and now she’s a big and beautiful girl, nine years old. There was no way I was coming to Hobart without her, and I had to give a fair bit of thought as to how I’d get her down here.

There are two clear options with interstate pet transfers—air or road. There are easily identified pros and cons for both options. Air is a far, far shorter total travel time for your pet, but it’s also more of a hassle to organise if you’ll be driving your car down (side note: why get your car freighted when you can have a road trip adventure?). If I was going to have my cat flown down, I would have had to either leave her with friends or a cattery in Brisbane for a few days while I drove down, so I could be there to meet her at the other end, or I could have put her on the plane myself in Brisbane and then had a cattery pick her up in Hobart and hold her for a few days until I got there.

The third option would have been to leave her with friends, drive down to Hobart, fly back up to get her and bring her back on the plane with me—or the opposite, bring her down to Hobart on the plane first and leave her in my new, empty house for a few days while I flew back up to Brisbane, got in my car and drove down. All of these options meant that she’d be spending at least a few days with STRANGERS!!! in a STRANGE PLACE!!! (her thoughts, not my words) and for anyone who knows my cat, that may not have been very good for her already delicate nerves. She’s easily startled and/or terrified of most things that exist on this earth. It also meant shelling out money for the flight/s and the cattery (or asking for a HUGE favour of friends).

So instead, I chose to bring her in the car with me. Her delicate nerves would still be tested, of course, but I would be there with her to talk her down from the ledge for most of the trip (which, to be honest, would probably actually just make ME feel better, as this is a co-dependent relationship). The only cost to incur was an extra $20 for a kennel on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry that I was using to bring my car into Tasmania anyway, and a little extra for the pet-friendly stopover accommodation (the Ardeanal Motel in West Wyalong; a solid option).

Roadtrip cat!

I’m going to waffle on a bunch more about preparing my (or your) cat for a road trip, but I’ll spare the front page and put this behind the cut, so keep reading only if you feel so inclined. Continue reading »

I’ve heard this question so many times in the last two months. Has it really only been a little more than two months since I announced my intention to move from Brisbane, Queensland to Hobart, Tasmania for no better reason than “why not”?

Looking back, I should have started this blog back then, but to be honest it took a while to sink in that it was really happening—that I was really moving. I couldn’t tell you the exact moment, though a few spring to mind.

The moment I handed over the keys of my lovely rental house in West End to my dear friend and newly ex-housemate a couple of weeks ago?

The night before I set off on my roadtrip down to Tasmania, when my mum and I were finished playing life-object tetris to fit everything in my car?

About halfway into twenty-three hours of driving in three days, listening to the mix CD my friend Liz made for me, with every second song being a farewell track that made me tear up?

Driving down the Midland Highway from Devonport to go pick up the keys to my (fingers crossed) adorable new rental property, a place for me to call home in Hobart?

The moment I looked out the window of said rental property and saw Hobart in front of me, just outside?

All these moments played a part in me acknowledging that it’s real. This has happened. This is happening still! That’s the truth to it; this is happening still. I have been here a week today (happy weekiversary, Hobart) and even this afternoon as I drove out to New Norfolk, I had a moment of confusion where I knew I was driving my car, and I knew I was driving through a beautiful stretch of scenery, but I couldn’t get those two dots to connect. I was driving MY car in TASMANIA? But HOW? Oh, yeah…

I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons. One of them is that I don’t have any friends in Hobart (yet? Please let the full statement end in “yet”) and writing blog posts may be a more sensible time-waster than online shopping (have I mentioned I’m currently funemployed? That money’s gotta run out someday—later rather than sooner would be nice) or just staring at the internet/my computer screen.

The other reason is so that the next time somebody asks me, “Why Tasmania?” I can reply with, “Why don’t you check out my blog?”